Did your GP fail to diagnose diabetes?

Dogbutler said:

Bloody hell Badcat!

That's the worst gp story I think I've ever heard. I'm amazed by the callous attiitude of your local nhs board, I'm not naive enough to dismiss the power of the old boy attitude in the health service, but this is ridiculous.

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Couldn't agree more. Absolutely astounding .....

badcat said:

Failed to diagnose diabetes and then failed to diagnose gangrene!
I went to gp surgery as a new patient with a blister on my foot that wasn't healing, they prescribed antibiotics and asked me if I was diabetic - I said not as far as I knew but thought it might be worth testing as I'd got what I thought were some symptoms ( thirst, weight loss etc) To which the reply was they'd test when the blister was healed
Blister then went really bad and the district nurses had to come and dress it daily - they kept asking if I was diabetic, I kept saying I'd asked to be tested, they kept telling me that they could do a finger prick test but needed the doctors agreement first
Foot then went black and gp told me that was probably bruising and a sign things were getting better
Then my temp hit 103 degrees and the gp finally did a finger prick test - Bs was 28 by this time
I was then rushed to hospital (now with both gangrene and diabetes ), where I stayed for the next 5 months following surgery to save me from an amputation
Suffice to say I am no longer with the same gp (although I was horrified to learn he's a prominent figure in the local clinical commissioning group!) - even the hospital wouldn't discharge me until I'd changed to a different practice.
Don't even get me started on the nhs complaints process - I gave up when their demand was for proof that the same thing wouldn't have happened even if the gp hadn't screwed up

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That is a horrific story. I am so sorry you had to go through it.

And it makes me angry that the doctor is still practicing! How many others are being affected?

It boggles the mind.

Thanks for the comments
Not only is he still practicing but until recently was chair of the local CCG which blew my mind when I found out!
On a positive note he appears to have at least learnt something as the surgery apparently started asking every patient if they'd been tested whether they'd got symptoms or not
18 years on I've thankfully still got both legs ( it was touch & go for a while) and have my diabetes under good control with a good consultant

Difficult to say because I so rarely had to see my GP fortunately.

But looking back some 5 years ago I collapsed at work after running up 3 flights of stairs (trying to prove to myself my body was as young as my mind - failed!). Suspected heart attack saw me undergoing tests in hospital which showed my heart was fine, but as soon as they got me to do moderate exercise I felt light headed etc. I did explain that for many years if this happened at home I simply drank a can of coke and was fine in 15 mins or so.

They did blood tests which is when it was found that I have Hashimoto's (thyroid) so went onto tablets and reduced my cholesterol and all seemed fine, but now I wonder if I was diabetic, or pre-diabetic, back then and it was missed? maybe the light-headedness (which I sometimes still get) was actually a hypo, and perhaps the finding of the thyroid condition simply ticked the boxes so investigations didn't go any further. Who can tell?

Nope. Saw the doc on Monday, got a bunch of blood tests to do, day after taking them got a call from GP that a nurse at the hospital is waiting for me. Best doc ever! Very supportive, even asked to talk to my manager so I could leave work straight away to go see the nurse.

My experience with my GP, unlike some others, couldn't have been better.

I went to the dr first thing on the Tuesday morning before work saying I had been feeling extremely thirsty for the past month. He did a urine test which showed traces of sugar. He prepared me at that point that it may be diabetes.

He took me through to a nurse right away who took a series of blood tests and he booked me in for an appointment the next morning to go through the results.

Later on that afternoon he called me at work asking me to come back in right away and to pack a bag.

When I got there he did another urine test for ketones and this came back positive. He then sent me up to the hospital armed with a letter. Apparently if there was no ketones I would have been allowed to go in the next day.

I then got to spend the night in a general admissions ward, which wasn't the best experience, and was eventually given some insulin. I did have to sit waiting for a bed and took from 7pm until 1am before I was given anything or seen to but I couldn't really complain.

I was then taken under the care of the diabetes team at the local hospital from the next morning and their care has been great.

They let me away that day and I had to go back the next for more checks.

Since then my GP has had no dealings with me from a diabetes point of view apart from taking it into consideration if I am there for something else.

no, diagnosed over the phone lol

My previous surgery had a stand in doctor who suggested I was type2.came for blood test and the practice nest said I didn't need it..The following year I changed surgery after moving and they gave me a 'MOT'..By the time I got home the phone went and practice nurse said I was diabetic.

I had been unwell for over 10 years ......odd symptoms , eventually I asked my gp to test for diabetes .....
Yes I feel let down , because I had described the symptoms for so many years .
Sometimes you just have to be proactive.....wish I had been earlier.....
Gp confirmed that the symptoms would of been there for over two years....acute stage...

I saw a few doctors for different physical problems ....they all failed to check for diabetes ....but all the symptoms were there.... (Hindsight is always a good thing)

I was sure I had diabetes about 6/7 years ago because I had very hot and sore feet and couldn't walk far - the nurse at the surgery did a finger prick and it was ok -- I went to every chemist that gave free diabetes tests and all showed ok!! I didn't have the thirst but I did crave sugar -- told doc all this but no avail -- anyway approx 2 years ago the doc said he would send me to see a neurologist to see what was wrong with my ( by then very painful feet) that neurologist sent me to hope hospital to have some circulation tests with wires and all sorts of things put on my legs !!! Next I had to go back to the first neurologist who sends me for a two hour fasting test which then showed I was definitely type two diabetic!!! I was put on metformin but because I had an ulcer it caused me all sorts of problems ie-- stomach bleeding!!! I had 18 months of sheer hell --then after 3 more sorts of tablets I was put on Linagliptin and am now finally feeling much better but I have peripheral neuropathy in both feet and am in so much pain with it I cannot walk far and am taking Pregablin ( yet another tablet) for the nerve pain and now have really bad depression because I was always very active and loved walking!!! I feel as though diabetes has ruined my life!! ( or the doc who failed to recognise it has!!! That is my diabetic story !!

Been a Diabetic for a few years now and not had a lot of problems with it until now, my BS levels are quite high and I'm finding it hard to bring them down I'm on a higher dose of Gliclazide and one new one to the market. Some time my BS levels are at about 9.6 then they shoot up to 13.0. I get so fed up some time, I try to eat good but like a treat now and then or a take away. Its make me angry and upset at times as I feels it controlling my life. I,m sure if I didnt have to worry about it then I could lose weight, does that make sense!!

I went to my GP feeling fatigued and continually thirsty, also I had blurred vision. The GP diagnosed me as Type 2 after lab blood test which showed BG at 17mmol/L. I was prescribed Metformin 3 tabs per day and told to come back in 3 months for another blood test. I was also told to lose weight (I was around 14 stone).
The above symptoms got worse and I went back to the GP who said give the medication a chance to work. She did not carry a finger prick test, which I thought would have been an obvious thing to do.
I then started to vomit and my wife urged me to go back to the GP, which I did. This time she did a finger prick test and my BG was 27mmol/L. She was a little shocked and phoned for an ambulance and I went straight into a bed and was put on fluids and insulin after the hospital doctors had diagnosed me as Type 1.
My GP had assumed that because I was 65 years old it must be Type 2. She was surprised to learn later that I was Type 1.

after 23 yrs they have realised my notes say 2 different things one part of my notes say I'm type 1 another part says I'm type 2 so had blood tests done yesterday I know i'.m type 1 but because 3 other members also have or had type `1 they want to differ .

Charlotte.S said:

Did your GP fail to diagnose diabetes or did you choose to ignore the symptoms?

Our forum has been proven as providing invaluable support to the diabetes community not just in the UK, but across the globe, and we are working with trusted health journalists to help spread the word.

One of our contacts is writing an article for the national press about Silent Killer Diseases of which diabetes is one. Can you spare 5 minutes on the phone to tell us your story? We don’t need to identify your GP but just want to illustrate what happened and the frustration it caused you or your loved one. You'll be helping others affected by diabetes get the support you are experiencing. Thank you.

Please contact press@diabetes.co.uk

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Wasnt realy miss diagnosed more too late, first child 8lb 4 oz wich is big for a first baby, second baby 10lb 13 oz again not even questioned, but took seven years till baby number 3 then tested, yes gestational 3weeks early 9lb 6 oz then went on to be full type 2

norman.stanbury said:

my gp failed me completely he gave me a blood test for diabetes and a few other things in feb 2012 the blood test showed high blood sugar but they did not follow it up and bring me back to double check, i then had another blood test in march 2013 in which they found i had type 2 and it was the diabetes nurse looking through my medical notes that spotted that i should of been told to come back in feb 2012 to follow it up because my blood sugar was high, i dont know if the gp just ignored the results or even looked at them, so i went over a year with type 2 without being told i had it, i think i probably had it alot longer because i felt ill for 3 or 4 years now i have angina been stented i am obese (gave up smoking november 2010 my weight just went berzerk,i was promised help with that if i gave up that never happened either) i really am ****** off with my gp's and dont know what to do about it

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Do not give up and keep persisting in getting answers. That is how it is in this country. You have some brilliant doctors and some are useless. I am lucky now I have a really good doctor.

Initially, I did not get diagnosed and they thought the tiredness was a result of me having had Glandula Fever several months earlier. I was at University at the time and could not get any answers for months, so I waited until the holidays and saw my Family GP. He diagnosed me straightaway.

The person who told me i was diabetic was my mum because she is t2 insulin and after spotting the symptoms of urinating a lot and drinking a lot and lots of tiredness. She tested my bm lvls indicating my bs levels were over 30 and critical. Had she left me to rest as i wanted to sleep i would have ended up in a coma...

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In effect I was diagnosed by my nan. She said what everyone else had been thinking for many months but didn't want to come out and say: "you are skin and bones and you look like you are dying. promise me you will go to the doctor tomorrow."

I went to GP and ask for BS test after learning that my sister in Australia is a prediabetic. My HbA1c was 57 was I glad I initiated it even though I did not think I had it?, I was developing bad eating habits and craving carbs and did not think I was passing urine quite often. I put it down to I was drinking lot more than before.
I agree with Bluetit about testing but the tests should be for over 50's, or even over 40's as 'prediabetic stage is a long silent scream from liver.'
''We over 60's can have annual MOT's and CV risk assessments in my area, which includes a fasting glucose and lipids test amongst other things. My diabetes was picked up on that and came as a total shock as no symptoms and no family history''

i think my gestational diabetes may have started in 2001 it was the time i had pre eclampsia and even though i had sugar in urine and protein ketones no one picked up on it, and i nearly died from the pre eclampsia was heading for eclampsia, then in 2006 pregnant plus 2007 also i had gestational diabetes, yet i knew back then from 2001 my body was not the same after the pre eclampsia things in me was not functioning right i addressed the issues no one listened, and now in 2013 i was pre diabetic and this year may 2014 got diagnosed diabetic, i have other things wrong with my health and some things are still in a question mark what i am suffering yet no one has diagnosed and it is like the door been slammed in my face, dealing with so many things yet can not get answers to the main concern i complained about so many times that even now no one is doing anything for me, just basically suffering alone,not much support or even finding the cause to a health issue i am still walking around with yet i know the diabetes was always there and it has triggered other health issues off and now i feel damaged, it has been a emotional and physical roller coaster, I just hope I can find some one who is clued up on medical things that can fix the concerns i have if they can. I feel sorry and sad for other people to going through all kinds of health concerns with diabetes it is not a easy path to deal with it is a struggle and some do not get enough help or support or the mending they need to pull through, my heart goes out to all of them.